Help with Daily Life

Social Care

 

General information, advice and support is available through The Gateway. The Gateway can be used for any general information and advice question that relates to a child pre-birth through to 18 years of age or 25 in relation to SEND matters.

To get in touch email gateway@plymouth.gov.uk or phone 01752 668000

    • Worries about your child’s development

    • Young people regularly missing school or college

    • Bullying, cyber bullying and sexting

    • Debt

    • Housing

    • Gender, identity and sexuality

    • Mental and emotional health

    • Child sexual exploitation

    • Disabilities or special educational needs

    • Drugs and alcohol

    • Domestic abuse

    • Crime and anti-social behaviour

    • Poverty, homelessness or long-term unemployment

    • Teenage pregnancy

    • Young carers

    • Asylum seekers and refugees

  • They will help you decide what kind of support is right for you and your family and put you in touch with the people that are best placed to help you. This could include:

    • help from your local children’s centre

    • help for your child at school

    • drug and alcohol advice

    • support from youth workers

    • support from the special educational needs and disability service

    • information, advice and resources to help you with parenting

    • parenting assessments and courses

    • group support

    • counselling

    • help with learning to read

    • letting you know what benefits you might be able to claim

Access & Travel

 

  • Provides information on thousands of venues across the UK and details their accessibility.

    Visit Website

  • To qualify for a blue badge you must be in receipt of the high rate mobility component of DLA or enhanced mobility PIP then you could qualify for a blue badge.

    As the high rate mobility component of DLA is only payable from 3 years old, generally children under the age of two are not eligible. Some children over two may qualify for a blue badge if they have severe mobility problems. Certain children under the age of three may be eligible if they have a disability due to a medical condition and need to travel with bulky equipment or be close to a vehicle for emergency medical treatment.

    To apply for a blue badge click here

  • Children with a learning disability who attend Cann Bridge, Millford, or Woodlands automatically qualify for a bus pass, but need a letter from the school confirming their attendance, home address and date of birth.

    Children attending Brook Green Centre for Learning, Courtlands School or Longcause Community special school may be eligible for a bus pass if they have a learning disability. A letter from the headteacher confirming the child’s name, home address, date of birth and a short statement that the child has a learning disability that meets criteria as set out in the concessionary travel legislation is needed.

  • If you are in receipt of the high rate mobility component of DLA or enhanced mobility PIP then you could qualify for 100 free crossings on the Tamar Bridge. Click here for details.

    Download the form here and return to the Torpoint ferry office.

 
 

Home Adaptions

 

Disabled Facilities Grant

A Disabled Facilities Grant can help with:

  • Stair lifts

  • Level access showers

  • Widening doors

  • Installing ramps

  • Through the floor lifts

  • Adapting heating/lighting facilities

  • Safe access to gardens

How to apply

To apply for a Disabled Facilities Grant contact Livewell Southwest (adults) on 01752 668000 or Children’s Integrated Disability Service (children) on 01752 307264 for an assessment by an occupational therapist.

You can apply for a grant if you’re:

  • an owner or the tenant of a property

  • a landlord on behalf of a disabled person

  • parents of a disabled child

If you receive a means tested benefit or the grant is for a child you’ll get a full grant to cover the cost of the works. The maximum grant available is £30,000.

If you don’t receive a means tested benefit, you’ll be assessed to see if you’ve got to contribute towards the cost of the work.

Short Breaks

 

A short break gives disabled children or young people opportunities to have fun doing things they enjoy and spending quality time with other young people in new environments. It also can provide parents and carers a regular planned break from their responsibilities. A short break may be for a few hours during the day, evening, overnight or for the whole weekend but it can’t be provided to allow the main carer to go to work.

Not all children and families will need the same level of short breaks, and some will need more than others because of the impact of their child’s disability or their individual family circumstances. See the document below for more information:

Click here to view the Short Breaks PDF

In Plymouth there are a wide range of holiday and leisure activities available for children and young people.

 
 
 
 

Plymouth Online Directory

The Plymouth Online Directory (POD) is a directory of services that includes information for children and young people with special educational needs or disabilities, families and professionals.

View the Plymouth Online Directory here

You may also like to contact the Plymouth Information Advice and Support Service who send out a regular newsletter of all the activities available for disabled children. We would encourage you to explore and try these varied activities as they are small groups which have high levels of skilled staffing.

Should you feel these activities are not suitable to meet your child’s needs and you feel that due to their disability more targeted/specialist support is required please contact the Plymouth Gateway requesting a short breaks assessment.

Request support with short breaks and leisure activities through the Gateway. Email gateway@plymouth.gov.uk or call 01752 668000.

Carers Assessment

 

If you’re over 18 and looking after a disabled child that you have parental responsibility for, you can ask for a parent carer’s needs assessment.

To request a needs assessment email gateway@plymouth.gov.uk or call 01752 668000.

A trained person from the council or an organisation they work with will chat to you about how caring affects your family and the sort of help you need. They can also carry out a needs assessment for your child at the same time.

The assessment will look at how caring affects:

  • your family life and wellbeing

  • your physical, mental and emotional health

  • your work, study, training, leisure

  • your relationships

After your assessment

If you’re eligible for help, you and the assessor will decide what support you need and how your needs will be met. You might be able to get help with:

You might also be able to get financial support such as a direct payment to spend on things to make caring easier.